During my OB clinical, I followed a "transition nurse" (RN) and absolutely fell in LOVE with the position! She was the nurse that attended all lady partsl deliveries and assessed the newborn/APGAR, cleans baby, does shots, erythromycin etc.. At this hospital, I believe the transition nurse was also the one who attended the c-sections and devoted all of their care to the newborn.
I just graduated and I have tried to search for the job title newborn "transition nurse" and the position seems so uncommon.
I would really like to become this type of nurse who works with babies... What is this nurse typically called?? At your hospital do you all have "transition nurses" or is this care typically something that the L&D nurse does? Nursery nurse?
We have transition nurses. They are part of mother/baby. They have at least two years experience and the spots are competitive among the m/b nurses.
If the baby shows signs of distress, they'll bring them to their nursery. They watch them for up to several hours and will either send them back to the floor with their mom or to the NICU.
Most hospitals use their nursery nurses other Labor and delivery nurses for this task. Educate yourself with Stable Course and become an NRP instructor.
At our hospital this is one of the roles of the L/D nurse. They rotate the role just like they do scrub, charge, etc. For a while the NICU sent a nurse to do this, but it doesn't have to be a NICU nurse.
I am an official neonatal transition nurse. I work at a tertiary hospital with around 400 births a month. Perhaps smaller hospitals may not have the staffing/funding for this role. You may have to look to the larger hospitals. Some places have called my role the "resuscitation nurse" or "resource nurse". The goal of the NTN is to decrease NICU admissions and keep moms and babies together. I attend all high risk deliveries and specialize in the management of hypothermia, hypoglycemia, and respiratory problems that require oxygen management to a certain point of acuity and for an alloted time. This is only a few examples of what I do. This role is often confused with other roles.(especially the baby advocate) We have been known to do this in our spare time. I consider myself a mobile nurse because I work with Labor and Delivery, NICU, and Post-partum daily (multiple floors). The role is advanced, requiring acute assessment and neonatal resuscitation skills. This role also works closely with physicians from all departments to observe for early onset sepsis and make sure high risk babies are followed closely and continuous care is given during difficult times. I would advocate for appropriate preparation and training before taking on this role. I love my job and I am glad you enjoyed your rotation. Good luck to you and I wish you the best!
Honestly I would recommend looking for a postpartum mother/baby position. You will not see deliveries or care for the newborn immediately after birth, but you will get a LOT of baby experience and I think it's a great first nursing job. I started out in postpartum and it really gave me an excellent foundation with generally low acuity so I could really get comfortable with basic nursing tasks. Then you could try transitioning into L&D, where you may be able to find a specific "baby nurse" or "transition nurse" job though I think this kind of thing just generally goes to an L&D nurse.
There is no such thing as a transition nurse and the apgars are for the MD or pA or NNP to decide and report, the nurse assigned to LD fromnicu can do the meds upon return to the Nicu,if it is decided the infant is ok and stays with Mom he will get meds there by nurse or upon check in to the nursery.Many things can go wrong during transition that is way a NP/Md /nurse is required at all deliveries just for the infant.
Most places will float you to nicu /peds/picu or nursery.
There is no such thing as a transition nurse and the apgars are for the MD or pA or NNP to decide and report, the nurse assigned to LD fromnicu can do the meds upon return to the Nicu,if it is decided the infant is ok and stays with Mom he will get meds there by nurse or upon check in to the nursery.Many things can go wrong during transition that is way a NP/Md /nurse is required at all deliveries just for the infant.
Most places will float you to nicu /peds/picu or nursery.
its not like this everywhere
at my hospital MD/NNP are only called for high risk deliveries. At other places I've worked its a NICU nurse/RRT team that attend higher risk deliveries and NNP/MD would be called for very high risk (exteme prems).
NICUmiiki, DNP, NP
1,775 Posts
We have transition nurses. They are part of mother/baby. They have at least two years experience and the spots are competitive among the m/b nurses.
If the baby shows signs of distress, they'll bring them to their nursery. They watch them for up to several hours and will either send them back to the floor with their mom or to the NICU.